Exact details of the weapons used are not clear, as some Kot Lakhpat officials said he was attacked with bricks, while others said he was assaulted with broken pieces of glass utensils and steel rods. PHOTO: FILE
Indian spy Sarabjit Singh, who is currently on death row in Kot Lakhpat Jail, was brutally attacked and left critically injured by two fellow prisoners on Friday evening.
The 50-year-old prisoner was initially taken to the prison hospital but was later shifted to Jinnah Hospital for treatment to a severe head injury caused by a blunt weapon, sources in the jail said. They said he received injuries to his mouth and neck as well. Singh is in a coma and has been placed on a ventilator.
Singh was condemned to death for his involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990.
Exact details of the weapons used were not clear, as some Kot Lakhpat officials said he was attacked with bricks, while others said he was assaulted with broken pieces of glass utensils and steel rods.
Dr Zafar Iqbal, head of Neuro Surgery Department, Jinnah Hospital, is heading the panel of doctors treating Singh.
The Indian prisoner’s lawyer, Owais Sheikh, told The Express Tribune there was a constant threat to his life after the hanging of Afzal Guru in India in February 2013. He said he had also filed an application to provide security to his client owing to these threats.
Deputy Inspector-General Inspection and Vigilance (Prisons), Naveed Rauf, told The Express Tribune that Singh was provided with security in the prison since he was a high-profile inmate.
Rauf said four security officials deployed outside his cell were assaulted by the attackers first, before they attacked Singh. Two jail officials were injured in the attack and were given medical treatment at the jail hospital. He said the attackers used broken pieces of glass utensils which caused severe injuries.
However, he was unable to provide a motive for the assault.
Station House Officer Kot Lakhpat Police Station, Waqar Hussain Bukhari, said an application for registering an FIR had not been received yet. After visiting the jail, he said prisoners Amir and Mudassir hit Singh with a brick when jail officials were taking him for an evening walk which is mandatory for every prisoner.
An assistant superintendent of the jail said on condition of anonymity that it was a pre-planned attack and the intention was to kill him. He claimed the prisoner was beaten with a steel rod.
Following the incident, the jail’s assistant superintendent and four wardens were suspended on charges of negligence. An inquiry headed by Deputy Inspector-General Malik Mubashar has been launched on the orders of the home department.
Indian diplomats given consular access
Islamabad has given consular access for Indian diplomats to visit Singh in Lahore.
“Pakistan has been very forthcoming on humanitarian grounds and has issued consular access in record time for Indian diplomats,” said foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry.
The move comes after India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told the Press Trust of India news agency that it had contacted the Foreign Office for consular access to two officers who were sent to Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2013.
COMMENTS (28)
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I wish Indians would rattle in same manner when Guru was hanged without informing his family and buried in the premises of Tahar Jail. We did not protest when Ajmal was hanged in Indian prison. At least we have handed over the body of Sarbajit. We released many Indian spies as good will jesture and in return we were handed in with dead bodies of Pakistanis. Cheers!
@Riz: Confessed to your police when he was tortured? You own human right activist were fighting for him.
@A concerned Pakistani: Yes he got a fair trial. If you have doubt then you can also get training from your spiritual leader Hafiz Sayed and to india and commit crime . Your doubt about fair treatment will be clear when you will be served biryani's in jail.
Nothing surprising about either the act or conduct of the state. In Pakistan hate crimes against non - muslims, Ahmadis and Shias are every day occurrence. Add one more - a non-Muslim that too from an enemy state. . Deplorable.
@Antebellum: Because European union is strictly against capital punishment and your government will not get next installment of aid from them if they had hanged him. I hope it is clear now.
@AR: have you seen the terrorist camp of RSS ? If not then please shut up. if RSS who support Hindus is communal organisation then entire pakistan is communal as all parties support islam in Pakistan. Unlike Hafiz Sayed, RSS does not send people all over the world for terrorism . No other country in world talk about RSS except Pakistan simply to hide their sins. Regarding Modi even Supreme court appointed SIT has also came to conclusion that Modi was not involved, but your are not going to believe it because unlike Indian Supreme court Pakistani court lacks credibility even your Musharaf is blaming your court for his arrest.
“--there was a constant threat to his life after the hanging of Afzal Guru in India in February 2013” Self proclaimed defender of Islam will object to and create hue and cry of a death of Muslim by a non Muslim state like USA, Israel, Russia, China or India no matter how fair the trial was. However, they will justify the killing and wish for more if the perpetrator happened to be a Muslim or a Muslim state like Beheading of Pakistani’s in KSA, killing of Shia, Hazara,, Ahmadis in Pakistan; atrocities of Zia Ul Haq against Palestine people is acceptable but not those by the Israel; blephasmous act by a Muslim against a Hindu (example Ghaznavi), Christian or Ahmadi is acceptable but not the other way around; religious conversion of non Muslim to Islam is acceptable but not other way around (history of Spain). Such a flawed thinking is utilized by religious zealots to unite people at the cost of promotion of the ills of the society like terrorism, religious intolerance etc. A society will not progress unless a logical thinking is taught in the school and at home.
And lets not forget that it was just a fight between prisoners. It's a failure of our police/jail system to protect prisoners. Anyways, updates to follow as the events unfold. I pray for Sarabjit's speedy recovery
@All Indian Friends: Sarabjit Singh has already confessed that he plotted a bomb in Lahore which killed so many people. We condemn the deeds of Sarabjit, Ajmal Kasab and all the terrorists operating inside India & Pak. Let be impartial!
@A concerned Pakistani:
"@ 1984: The Same fair trial India gave to Afzal Guru?"
Afzal Guru was indeed given a very fair trial all the way up to the Indian supreme court.
Please don't let him die Now, we want him to be hangedddddddd
Knowing fully well that even the people who are accused of Blasphemy laws, and even after being exonerated from the courts, are killed by fanatical elements in Pakistan, it is unconscionable on the part of Pakistan's government to leave Sarabjit Singh at the mercy of other prisoners in a Pakistani jail. Whether he was a spy or not should have been decided by the courts, and if guilty should have been given an appropriate sentence, but he was a human being first, and it was Pakistan's responsibility to have taken care of him while in their custody. At least now he should be given the best medical care to bring him back to full health and repatriated to India after commuting his sentence, if there was any. He has suffered more than what a potential sentence could have been. Forget what others think of us, question is what do we think of ourselves??? If we consider ourselves decent people we need to question ourselves what kind of a treatment we mete out to another human being; spy or not.
@A concerned Pakistani: "The Same fair trial India gave to Afzal Guru?" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nah the same free trail that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto got.
@AR: Mr. AR, Gujarat is an integral part of India. Why does Pakistan have to worry about what goes on in Gujarat? Doesn't Pakistan have enough of its own problems, than to worry about a problem in a state in a neighboring country?
@AR: Condemning pakistan and threatening pakistan are two different things.RSS is a extremist organisation not terrorist No body in india walk around with sophisticated weapons and bunch of suicide bombers.Also afzal guru was a indian citizen, what right pakistan has to interfere,secondly, the world saw what criminal minded coward ajmal kasab did,Sarbjit is accused of planting bombs,which is according to pakistani courts is just circumstantial.He is in the jail for more than 20 years,Pakistan is just using it as bargaining chip.
@ 1984: The Same fair trial India gave to Afzal Guru?
@AR: Entirely agree . For all the sound and fury that he generates the fact is that Hafeez Sayeed can not even win a couple of seats in Parliament in Pakistan . His mirror image and counter part in our country , Narendra Modi is a strong candidate for the post of Prime Minister . In all fairness we need to hold our breath , pause and think about the direction our polity is taking . Those who push and prop Narendra Modi just need to look at Pakstan to learn where mixing religion with politics can take our nation . Secularism have ensured that india has stayed a democracy and progressed .
@AR:
WELL I M NOT JUSTIFYING RSS, SHIVSENA, and MODI ......BJP is defeated comprihensively for their sectarian politics .
we all know here that they r playing dirty politics for power and that is why modi is also criticised. Recently he faced a severe opposition in delhi university, students boycotted his speech about industrial development ..
whatever support modi got is due to the industrial revolution in gujrat ( tata nano ...etc)
BUT THERE R NO TRAINING CAMPS IN INDIA AGAINST ANY ESTABLISHMENT ...
WHATEVER VENOM U HEAR FRM THESE USELESS GROUPS IS DUE TO THE INCIDENTS LIKE MUMBAI ATTACKS.....................
,
@AR, In the bar of world opinion, we all know which is the terrorist nation, right? Unless you've been sleeping under a rock.
@AR : First of all Gujrat is part of India so dont worry about it. It will be nice if you can care more about your fellow Pakistanis who get killed everyday in bomb blasts and other terrorism. Secondly you need to understand difference between riots and terror. Thirdly its not hard to criticise Pakistan considering what they have propagated throughout the world. And last but not least have some shame by questioning others as "civilized nation".
Both countries should do an immediate and complete prisoner swap...and wipe out history.
"Rauf said four security officials deployed outside his cell were assaulted" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ So the number of attackers must have been 10 or twenty? inside a jail? Were the security officials armed? if not why not?:) The whole incident stinks to high heavens. Moral : the security officials need security officials for their protection.
If Sarabjit is killed in this fracas India must terminate all trade and diplomatic relations with Pakistan. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If only India could push this neighbor a few thousand kilometers away!
Why is this terrorist and killer of Pakistanis (convicted and sentenced) not already hanged?
Ok,let's say that Sarabjit was indeed a terrorist responsible for killing 20 people. But even then, he should have been given a fair trial and hanged for his crimes. Not like this
@vaibhav: What do you expect from Pakistan when all RSS and other extremist groups are roaming openly india, running training camps and openly condemning Pakistan. Mastermind of Gujrat terror, unlike Hafiz Saeed, is a PM candidate. Yet you claim to be a civilized nation.
sarabjits case should be dealt indepedently by pakistan, if found guilty he must be punished.
why pakistan is linking it with afzal gurus hanging.. and why they have a soft corner on a person who attacked indian parliament..
afzal was caught red handed and he accepted his involvement ,no one except terrorists would justify his hanging....
pakistans stance on AZAMAL KASAB & AFZAL GURU'S hanging sends a very hostile sign to india ....
we all know how hafeez syeed is giving anti india speeches and pakistan is providing a safe heaven to him. why osama was traced in pakistan ????????
now what pakistan is expecting from india....................................
Our protectors cannot protect us, expecting to protect enemy spy is out of question.